Helite H-MOOV Airbag Backpack Assessment

Assessment Abstract

• The detachable backpack is well designed and offers riders many choices for carrying gear or snacks.
• The airbag doesn’t wrap across the decrease facet kidney areas just like the ‘regular’ Helite vests
• The burden of the backpack airbag which features a 60cc CO2 canister is 5.98 kilos and 4.06 kilos with out the backpack hooked up. The massive Helite Turtle 2 tethered air vest weighs 4.06 kilos together with a 60cc CO2 canister.
• Out there in tethered (as examined) and digital set off variations

I’ve reviewed two variations of Helite airbag vests. The primary was the analog model of the Helite Turtle 2 (HT2) vest in August of 2022. The newest was my evaluation of the  Helite e-Turtle 2 Airbag Assessment. These are my impressions of the brand new tethered H-MOOV backpack. (HMV) Helite plans to launch an digital model of this backpack shortly.

About Helite

Helite was based in 2002 by Gérard Thevenot, a French engineer who specialised in fluid mechanics and was keen about mild aeronautics (ULM, grasp gliders, paramotors). The excessive accident fee in these sports activities led him to search for options for pilot safety, and so a primary patent was filed for particular person safety airbags.

As airbag expertise applies to all high-risk actions, Helite has change into an skilled on this subject, dedicating itself solely to the event of particular person safety programs. Helite airbags are already utilized in all kinds of fields resembling motorcycling, horse driving, biking, well being, aeronautics, and industrial work; they’re additionally extremely appreciated in top-level sports activities.

From Helite’s web site:

Our Ambition:

Helite’s mission is to make the world safer by creating new clever options to guard individuals of their sports activities and day by day actions. Our particular recipe: innovation, expertise, and ease, all made in France with our contact of authenticity.

Our R&D Strategy:

From the concept to the design of an airbag, an extended course of and plenty of abilities are concerned. On this sense, our airbag expertise remains to be validated by quite a few prototypes and crash checks.

Development

• Inside textile 3D mesh for max air circulation
• Vest 100% polyester 600D textile
• Airbag 100% polyurethane
• 18L backpack expandable to 23L
• The backpack might be utterly faraway from the air vest and a reflective cowl is provided which might be zipped rather than the backpack unit when so desired
• A hydration pouch and hose attachment factors are integrated. No hydration pack is included
• Exterior pocket for small objects resembling bank cards or money
• Reflective stripes on the again for added visibility on each the backpack and rain cowl
• Waterproof rain cowl constructed into the backpack
• Mesh helmet service constructed into the backpack
• Devoted sleeve for a laptop computer as much as 15” with adjustable securing strap
• Mushy neoprene collar for higher consolation across the neck
• Comfy and lightweight permits full physique movement
• TURTLE expertise with SAS-TEC 1621 stage 1 again protector
• Adjustment straps for a match over any bike garment
• Air safety quantity: 18L
• Water resistant and waterproof when deployed with included rain cowl
• CE Licensed Airbag System

Introduction

I wish to state upfront that I’ve by no means been a fan of carrying a backpack whereas driving a motorbike. My cause primarily revolves round security. The potential for crashing with a backpack filled with strong gadgets that might probably influence my backbone simply didn’t justify the comfort of carrying ‘stuff’ on my again. Up till this level I’ve both utilized a tail or tank bag for issues like water, snacks, instruments, my first help package, and so on. To my information, the HMV backpack is the very first one to include an air vest.

BOOM!!!

First issues first, let’s set off this sucker. Irrespective of what number of instances I’ve examined Helite airbag programs, both deliberately or from a fall, the preliminary growth at all times offers me a little bit of a startle. Testing this time was no totally different. In my evaluation of the Helite Turtle 2 Airbag Vest, I’m going into element about how the CO2 canister system works, and the way it’s punctured and fills the vest.

In the event you’d wish to know extra, together with how you can change the tethered CO2 canister, merely reference my earlier evaluation. Beneath is how the inside of the HMV seems earlier than inflation.

For now, I’ll illustrate the place the canister is positioned on the HMV. Not like the Turtle vests, the HMV’s canister is positioned in a double-zippered pouch above the fastening buckles. It makes use of a 60cc canister which is indicated on the internal portion of the opening.

Because the HMV doesn’t have a devoted slot sewn into the vest, double zippers place the tether to exit the canister’s ball set off mechanism. The right place of the zipper pulls is marked on the vest by two blue dashes.

And the place is specified on web page 32 within the person’s information.

Putting in the Tether

Since it is a tethered set off system, you could set up the tether (duh) to your bike body, ideally towards the middle of your bike. I’ve put in mine simply the precise of the entrance of the seat subsequent to my gasoline tank. Listed below are the Helite person guide’s directions.

HMV Growth Areas

As a result of the HMV is thinner and shorter in size than the Turtle line of airbag vests, it accommodates gussets alongside the perimeters and backside. The scale distinction is clear in these pictures. As some extent of reference, Turtle 2 is a dimension giant. The HMV solely is available in one dimension.

Either side of the HMV’s entrance shoulder straps makes use of small snaps which permit the airbag to quickly develop when the CO2 canister is launched.

The underside of the vest permits the airbag to increase beneath the backpack.

The airbag covers the thorax, stomach, neck, again, and sacrum. The pictures above present the sacrum airbag sections. The next photographs illustrate the neck and entrance rib airbag sections.